Worth upgrading from a Focusrite Solo?

Creed_Clicks

As the title suggests, am I just getting sucked in by marketing, or would it be worth "trading up"? No real issue with the Focusrite to be honest. As well as using it to record, I often use it to listen to music through the laptop as well, so perhaps I am compromising myself in that area? (I do have a DAC/headphone amp as well, but if the audio interface is going to do the same thing....)

In our rehearsal space we use a Solid State Logic SSL2+ for backing tracks etc so the SSL could be an option, though I am not sure what advantages I would get for just solo recording over the Focusrite. (Or if I would have any advantage listening to audio through a better interface...)

Tyre kicking the following. MOTU M2, Universal Audio Volt 176, or the SSL2...

andy_k

It is worth upgrading if you want more inputs, but I think you will have to spend a lot of money to get any clear sonic improvements.
Maybe you need to upgrade, if you want to be recording at 96k or above, but if you are planning that I'd suspect you would have already moved beyond the Focusrite.
One thing I like about the 2i2 I have, is that it is bus powered, so no need for external power, some of the bigger units might also need external power - I don't know.

Creed_Clicks

@andy_k If I could keep it to bus power, it would be easiest. Maybe I am looking at things I don't need to be looking at! The Volt 176 has a compressor which could come in handy.

Stratavarious

I’d agree.. only for more inputs or special features.

Creed_Clicks

Stratavarious said:

I’d agree.. only for more inputs or special features.

*maybe* the compressor on the Volt could be handy for recording vocals... and the midi inputs.

theatreanchor

Only ever upgrade if you absolutely need to.

flying_pie

Only if you need need extra inputs (and extra headphone out in the case of the SSL2+)

While a hardware compressor could be useful it's not really that necessary.

andy_k

A bit of advice I could offer to anybody starting out, would be to go for a minimum of 2 inputs, as this allows a guitar to be recorded with a DI, as well as an amp sound, via a splitter.
The idea of a single input interface sounds good for capturing an idea, but in reality, the extra input allows for stereo recordings, duets, etc etc etc.
Adding in things like compression at the recording stage, might be useful, but not really essential, as there is no going back after the recording has been done, again, doing this on a stereo acoustic guitar, with good mics, could be exactly what you are after.
My perspective on recording into a DAW, is that the aim is to capture the best quality and performance, and a DI can be very useful.

Creed_Clicks

@andy_k good advice. I have not yet missed not having two inputs, as all the guitar I record is via amp sims etc. Not the same as an amp feeding back in a room I know, but usually when I had to record something specific from an amp, I miced it up and recorded it at the rehearsal space, but maybe having the two inputs might be no bad thing! "Better to be looking at it, than for it"

flying_pie

@andy_k just to add to your post that a simple Boss tuner can act as the perfect splitter for recording DI and amp, and it can also do a decent job as a reamp box too